ÿþ<HTML> <head> <title> Palestine under the Ottomans </title> <META NAME="Description" CONTENT=" Palestine in the mid-19th century when Jewish writers began conceiving pf returning was a province of the declining Ottoman Empire. The Ottoman Turks conquered Palestine (1516). Local governors appointed by the Ottomans collected revenues which was forwarded to Constntinople. Thee Ottomans promoted important public works. Suleiman the Magnificent rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem (1537). The Druse attenpted to establish their own state in northern Palestine during the early Ottoman era. Napoleon conducted one of his earliest campaigns in the Middle East, seizing Cairo and areas in Palestine (1798). He took Jaffa, Ramle, Lydda, Nazareth and Tiberias, but was unable to take Acre. A Royal Navy squadron under Nelson destoyed the French fleet and made Napoleon's position untenable. Mehemet Ali of Egypt seized Palestine from the Ottomans. His son Ibrahim Pasha leading Egyptian troops took Acre (1831). The local Palestinian population revolted (1834). After considerableturmoil, the Ottomans regained control of Palestine (1840). The Palestinian Arab population played a role in the political reforms seeking to modernize the Ottoman Empire (1876 and 1908). Ottoman Palestine consisted of two administrative areas. There was the autnomous Sanjak (district) of Jerusalem which was subject to the High Porte in Constantinople. The Sanjak included an area from Jaffa to the River Jordan in the East and from the Jordan south to the borders of Egypt. The other area was part of the Willayat (province) of Beirut. This part was composed of the Sanjak of Balka (Nablus) from Jaffa to Jenin, and the Sanjak of Acre, which extended from Jenin to Naqura. Palestiniaqn Arabs had many important political and military posts under Ottoman rule. The Ottoman Empire was evolving in the late 19th century abd the plitical reforms resulted in a constitution and parliment. There were Arab representatives in the Parliament. In the first Parliament, the President of the Council of the House of Representatives was a Jerusalem Deputy , Yusif Dia Pasha Al Khalidi. The administration of Arab territories was entrusted to elected Administrative Councils. Those Councils were elected and existed in the provinces, districts, and sub-districts. Those Councils were vested with extensive powers in administration, finance, education, and development. The Ottoman Empire was, however, by the 19th century politically unstable. While the Empire was controlled by Turks, they were a minority within the Empire which included large number of Balkan Christians, Armenians, and Arabs. The Young Turks that seized control of the Government were not about to relinquish control to non-Turkish groups. Palestine remained under Ottoman rule until World War I. It is difficut to know the political attitudes of Palestinians to Ottoman rule. It was from the desert tribes, supported by the British, however, that effective resistace to Ottoman rule came after the Ottomans entered the War on the side of the Central Powers. With photos and text. "> <META NAME="KeyWords" CONTENT="Israel, Plestine, Palestinians, Ottoman Enpire, boy, boys, children, girl, girls, school uniform, garments, caps, military, tunics, sailor suits, shirts, history, historical, fashion, "> </head> <BODY BGCOLOR="#000066" TEXT="#FFFF00" LINK="#FF0000" ALINK="#FFFF00" VLINK="#99CCFF"> <br> <br> <img src="/HBCgold.gif"> <br> <br> <HR> <br> <br> <br> <br> <center><h1>Palestine under the Ottomans (1516-1918)</h1></center> <table border=0 cellpadding=20 width=441 height=499 align=left> <tr> <td><table border=5 width=100% align=left bgcolor=##7f00ff"> <tr> <td> <IMG SRC="/imagef/date/2011/10/pal-arm01s.jpg"></a> <hr> <i>Figure 1.--Here we see an unidentified boy in Jerusalem holding a whip. Palestine was then a province in the Ottoman Empire. The cabinet card is undated, but was probably taken in the 1880s. Most early photography in the Arab world was taken by Europeans or in this case Armenians. The back of the card read Photographie du Couvent Arménien. The word 'Couvent' meand brood in French, I think it may have meant the Armenian Quarter in the city. There is also some text in German abd then some very small text, 'K. Kraiwatak en Wien (Vienna). That may have been where the photographic card stock was printed. The imagerry on the back is very un-Islamic, so we suspect the boy is not an Arab. We woukd guess he is Armenian. He seems dressed in Turkish fashions, including what looks like a fez and baggy pants. We are not sure that Arabs liked to have their photographs taken and many did not have the money even if they wangted a portrait.</i> </td> </tr> </table> </td> </tr> </table> <p> Palestine in the mid-19th century when Jewish writers began conceiving pf returning was a province of the declining Ottoman Empire. The Ottoman Turks conquered Palestine (1516). Local governors appointed by the Ottomans collected revenues which was forwarded to Constntinople. Thee Ottomans promoted important public works. Suleiman the Magnificent rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem (1537). The Druse attenpted to establish their own state in northern Palestine during the early Ottoman era. Napoleon conducted one of his earliest campaigns in the Middle East, seizing Cairo and areas in Palestine (1798). He took Jaffa, Ramle, Lydda, Nazareth and Tiberias, but was unable to take Acre. A Royal Navy squadron under Nelson destoyed the French fleet and made Napoleon's position untenable. Mehemet Ali of Egypt seized Palestine from the Ottomans. His son Ibrahim Pasha leading Egyptian troops took Acre (1831). The local Palestinian population revolted (1834). After considerableturmoil, the Ottomans regained control of Palestine (1840). The Palestinian Arab population played a role in the political reforms seeking to modernize the Ottoman Empire (1876 and 1908). Ottoman Palestine consisted of two administrative areas. There was the autnomous Sanjak (district) of Jerusalem which was subject to the High Porte in Constantinople. The Sanjak included an area from Jaffa to the River Jordan in the East and from the Jordan south to the borders of Egypt. The other area was part of the Willayat (province) of Beirut. This part was composed of the Sanjak of Balka (Nablus) from Jaffa to Jenin, and the Sanjak of Acre, which extended from Jenin to Naqura. Palestiniaqn Arabs had many important political and military posts under Ottoman rule. The Ottoman Empire was evolving in the late 19th century abd the plitical reforms resulted in a constitution and parliment. There were Arab representatives in the Parliament. In the first Parliament, the President of the Council of the House of Representatives was a Jerusalem Deputy , Yusif Dia Pasha Al Khalidi. The administration of Arab territories was entrusted to elected Administrative Councils. Those Councils were elected and existed in the provinces, districts, and sub-districts. Those Councils were vested with extensive powers in administration, finance, education, and development. The Ottoman Empire was, however, by the 19th century politically unstable. While the Empire was controlled by Turks, they were a minority within the Empire which included large number of Balkan Christians, Armenians, and Arabs. The Young Turks that seized control of the Government were not about to relinquish control to non-Turkish groups. Palestine remained under Ottoman rule until World War I. It is difficut to know the political attitudes of Palestinians to Ottoman rule. It was from the desert tribes, supported by the British, however, that effective resistace to Ottoman rule came after the Ottomans entered the War on the side of the Central Powers. <br> <h2>Conquest (1516)</h2> <p> Ottoman Sultan Bayezid II (reigned 1481-1512) gave considerable attention to his navy and he used to extend the reach of Ottoman power in the Mediterranean. His navy joined by the North African corsairs managedto displace Venice and Genoa as the dominate naval power in the eastern and central Mediterranean. Selim I known to history as Selim the Grim drove south conquering the Arab lands of Syria and Palestine which had been rukled by the Egyptian Mamluks (1516). They were made provinces of the Ottoman Empire. Continued his campaign, Selim drove the last of the Mamluk sultans from his Cairo throne (1517). Egypt was made a a satellite of the Ottoman Empire. Selim I was also recognized as guardian of the holy cities of Mecca and Medina. With the effective control of the holy cities, the Ottoman sultans acquired the title of caliph. <br> <h2>Origins</h2> <p> Just who the modern Palestinians are is a matter of conjecture. Palestinian Arabs claim various lines of descentsome of which seem more legend than fact. The Nusseibeh family claim to have descened from the Arab invaders under Omar (about 640). The Dajani claim descent from an Arabian knight, The Husseini family seem to be associated wuth with Ottoman invaders (1510s). The Nashashibi family are apparently descended from Bowmen of Salah Eddin. Izzedin Al Qassam, the Palestinian national hero, was born in Syria. <br> <h2>Ottoman Rule</h2> <p> Local governors appointed by the Ottomans collected revenues which was forwarded to Constntinople. Thee Ottomans promoted important public works. Suleiman the Magnificent rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem (1537). <br> <h2>The Druse</h2> <p> The Druse attenpted to establish their own state in northern Palestine during the early Ottoman era. <br> <h2>Other Ethnic Grouos</h2> <p> The Ottoman Empire was a multi-ethnic empire. The Turks were a minority in the Empire. Various Christian nationalities dominated the Balkans. There were Greeks and Armenians in Anatolia. And the Levant was dominated by Arabs. Im Palesrine there were many minorities, especially in Jerusalem. This included European, Amnians, and Jews. <br> <h2>Ottoman Policies toward Jews</h2> <p> <br> <h2>Napoleonic Campaign (1798-1801)</h2> <p> Napoleon conducted one of his earliest campaigns in the Middle East (1798). He decided that if he seized Egypt, at the time a British protectorate, he could disrupt the supply line of the British Empire. The Suez Canal was not yet built, but organizing a portage, Egypt was still the cloest trade route to India. He proceeded to invade Egypt. It proved go be a serious error. At the time Egypt under a British protectorate was ruled by the Mamelukes. They were the descedents of slaves who became soldiers and then warlords in Egypt. Napoleon seized Cairo and areas in Palestine (1798). He took Jaffa, Ramle, Lydda, Nazareth and Tiberias, but was unable to take Acre. After the initial victories, the Egyptian campign proved a disaster. A romantic aura surronded the campaign and France and Britain were swept with an interest in archeology and Egyptology. Napoleon enlisted 167 scholars to accompany the military. While Napoleon was engaging the Mamelukes with considerable success, Lord Nelson was searing for the French fleet and the opportunity to engage it. The Royal Navy squadron finally located tge Frebch fleet. Nelson defeated the French fleet at the Battle of the Nile fought in Aboukir Bay (1799). [Meyerson] This isolated the French army. Napoleon soon found himself engaged not only with the Mamelukes, but the British and Ottomons as well. This made the French position untenable. In the end, Napoleon abandoned his army and eluded the British fleet to get back to France. When Napoleon arrived back in France, he found the governent about to collapse. Napoleon seized control of the government. Some historians look on this as the end of the French Revolution. Meanwhile the French forces in Egypt wwre cut off and forced to surrender (1801). As part of the surrender they were forced to hand over the Egyptian trasures and antiquities many of which can now be found in London museums today. One of those was the Rosetta Stone which proved to be the key to deciphering ancient Egyption hieroglyphics. <br> <h2>Egyptian/ Arab Revolt (1831-40)</h2> <p> The Ottomans comquered the Levant (1516) and turned Egypt into a sattelite state (1517). As Ottoman power began to decline, Egypt was able to exert an increasing degree of indeoendence. Mehemet/Muhammad Ali was nominally the Ottoman Govenor of Egypt, but by 1830 was essentially an independent ruler. He seized Palestine from the Ottomans. This was a period in which the Ottomons were struggling to retain control of Greece and called on Muhammad Ali for military assistance aginst the Greeks. Mehemet Ali's son Ibrahim Pasha leading Egyptian troops took Acre (1831). The local Palestinian population in turn reolted against Mehemet Ali (1834). Ottomon authorities generally protected minority groups throughout the Empire. With Ottomon control thrown off, Palestinian Arabs apparently targeted the Jewish minority. Muhammad Ali to build his army attempted to conscript the Muslimm Palestinians. The Palestinians, however, resisted service in Muhammad's army. Kassam Lakhama in Nablus called for a Palestinian revolt. They were joined by peasants (fellahin) in the surronding villages. They marched on Jerusalem and seized it (May 31). Rioters began attacking Christians and Jews, but the rebel commander ordered that stopped. Ibrahim Pasha, with a substantial force reached Jerusalem (June 3) and the rebels fled. The Jews at <a href="safed1834.html">Safed</a> were not so lucky. The Palestinians attacked the Jews there. This appears to have been a dresful pogrom. After considerableturmoil, the Ottomans regained control of Palestine from the Egyptians (1840). <br> <h2>Economic Situation</h2> <p> The question arises as to the economic status of Palesinians under Ottoman rule. We have noted references to the people being very poor. This seems to have been the general situation for Arabs living within the Ottoman Empire. This seems to be a fair statement. We do not have any detailed information such as actual income levels. This is of interest because the Israelis contend that Jewish immigration brought prosperity to Palestine while the Arabs complain that the Jews have exploited Palestinians. Not do we know how the Palesinians compared to other Arab populations inside and beyond the Ottoman Empire. One source suggests that Palestine was one of the poorest regions within the Ottoman Empire. We canot yet confirm that this was the case. We do note Palestine being described by travelers as an arid and largely uninhabited wasteland. One traveler describes Da, rather daming with fait praise, "Here were evidences of cultivation  a rare sight in this country  an acre or two of rich soil studded with last season s dead corn-stalks of the thickness of your thumb and very wide apart. But in such a land it was a thrilling spectacle. Close to it was a stream, and on its banks a great herd of curious-looking Syrian goats and sheep were gratefully eating gravel. I do not state this as a petrified fact  I only suppose they were eating gravel, because there did not appear to be any thing else for them to eat." [Twain, Ch. 46.] Later he described Magdala near Tiberias with brutal clarity, "MAGDALA is not a beautiful place& The streets of Magdala are any where from three to six feet wide, and reeking with uncleanliness. The houses are from five to seven feet high, and all built upon one arbitrary plan  the ungraceful form of a dry-goods box. The sides are daubed with a smooth white plaster, and tastefully frescoed aloft and alow with disks of camel-dung placed there to dry. This gives the edifice the romantic appearance of having been riddled with cannon-balls, and imparts to it a very warlike aspect& . There are no windows to a Syrian hut, and no chimneys. When I used to read that they let a bed-ridden man down through the roof of a house in Capernaum to get him into the presence of the leader, I generally had a three-story brick in my mind, and marveled that they did not break his neck with the strange experiment. I perceive now, however, that they might have taken him by the heels and thrown him clear over the house without discommoding him very much. Palestine is not changed any since those days, in manners, customs, architecture, or people. As we rode into Magdala not a soul was visible. But the ring of the horses hoofs roused the stupid population, and they all came trooping out  old men and old women, boys and girls, the blind, the crazy, and the crippled, all in ragged, soiled and scanty raiment, and all abject beggars by nature, instinct and education. How the vermin-tortured vagabonds did swarm! How they showed their scars and sores, and piteously pointed to their maimed and crooked limbs, and begged with their pleading eyes for charity! We had invoked a spirit we could not lay. They hung to the horses s tails, clung to their manes and the stirrups, closed in on every aide in scorn of dangerous hoofs  and out of their infidel throats, with one accord, burst an agonizing and most infernal chorus:  Howajji, bucksheesh! howajji, bucksheesh! howajji, bucksheesh! bucksheesh! bucksheesh! I never was in a storm like that before& . & Squalor and poverty are the pride of Tiberias. The young women wear their dower strung upon a strong wire that curves downward from the top of the head to the jaw  Turkish silver coins which they have raked together or inherited. Most of these maidens were not wealthy, but some few had been very kindly dealt with by fortune. I saw heiresses there worth, in their own right  worth, well, I suppose I might venture to say, as much as nine dollars and a half. But such cases are rare. When you come across one of these, she naturally puts on airs. She will not ask for bucksheesh. She will not even permit of undue familiarity. She assumes a crushing dignity and goes on serenely practicing with her fine-tooth comb and quoting poetry just the same as if you were not present at all. Some people can not stand prosperity." Then he drescribes Ein Dor (Endor). "We rode a little way up a hill and found ourselves at Endor, famous for its witch. Her descendants are there yet. They were the wildest horde of half-naked savages we have found thus far. They swarmed out of mud bee-hives; out of hovels of the dry-goods box pattern; out of gaping caves under shelving rocks; out of crevices in the earth. In five minutes the dead solitude and silence of the place were no more, and a begging, screeching, shouting mob were struggling about the horses feet and blocking the way.  Bucksheesh! bucksheesh ! bucksheesh! howajji, bucksheesh ! It was Magdala over again& Dirt, degradation and savagery are Endor s specialty. We say no more about Magdala and Deburieh now. Endor heads the list. It is worse than any Indian campoodie. The hill is barren, rocky, and forbidding. No sprig of grass is visible, and only one tree. This is a fig-tree, which maintains a precarious footing among the rocks at the mouth of the dismal cavern once occupied by the veritable Witch of Endor. [Twin, Ch. 51.] Another question of importance is why were the Palestinians and other Arab populations so poor. Were they exploited by the Ottoman Empire? Or did Ottoman regulations prevent economic development. A major factor was that the Palestinians were largely uneducated. The population received little or no formal education and there were no institutions of hihjer education. The Palestinians like most Arab people within the Ottoman Empire had not entered the modern age. An understanding of the economic situation during the Ottoman era is important to understand to place developments during the 20th century in context. <br> <h2>Education</h2> <p> We have been unable to find any information about education in Ottoman Palestine. As far as we know, there was no public education system even in the early-20th century before World War I. Presumably the mosques sponsored Islamic education theough madrasahs. We have, however, little information on this nor the level of attendance. We have been unable to find any information concerning secular education in Palestine among the Arab population. Educational achievement was very low. One Arab observer expressed it with the statement, "culture in this country is dead". This was an Arab view written by the editor of a Jerusalem newspaper in 1912. [Ayalon, p. 17.] Literacy may have been as low as 2 percent. This was a general problem throughout the Ottoman Empire, although Palestine may have been among the areas with the least educated population. Secular education was more advanced in the Christian areas of the Empire. Although Christians were a minority within the Empire, more Christians attended secular schools than Muslims. [Stone, p. 95.] Many of the Christian schools received support from foreign church and charitable organizatuins. This resulted in greater economic success for Christians in areas of mixed population such as Constsntinople and resentment among Muslims. Palestinians seem to have a higher educational level than many other Arab national groups. We believe a factor here is the Christian Palestinians, although our information is still very limited. We believe a factor may be Christian schools founded in Palestine. It may also be a factor in the relatively substantial secular outlook of Palestinians. This is an interesting question because Palestinian Arabs at the time of the Israeli-Arab conflict seem better educated than many other Arab nationalities. Perhaps readers will know more about Palestinian Arab education. The situation is different for the early Zionist settlers who founded schools. While Jews, many of the early Zionists were secular and wanted secular schools for their children. The Alliance Israélite Universelle in Paris was an early supporter of Jewish education in Palestine. The schools they founded taught in the French language. Beginning after the turn-of-the 20th century, the Hilfsverein der Deutschen Juden (Welfare Society of German Jews) provided assistance for largely secular Jewish schools in Palestine. Their schools were bilengual, teaching in Hebrew and German. They worked with both German and Ottoman officials. [Rinott, p. 294.] German officials saw this an a way of promoting German culture in the Ottoman Empire, a country which the Germans were cultivating as a potential ally. The Ottomans apparently saw improving education as helpful in modernization efforts. In only a short time before World War I, the Hilfsverein group had established a substantial network of Jewish schools in Palestine. It included kindergartens, primary schools, a normal (teacher's) school, a seminar for kindergarten teachers, a commercial high school, and a rabinical college. Most of the Hilfsverein schools were in Jerusalem. They came to serve about half the Jewish children attending secular schools. There were plans to open a technical college (Technicum) in Haifa (1914). The opening was delayed, however, because of differences between Hilfsverein and Zionist Jews over the principal language of instruction. TThe Hilfsverein wanted German used while the local Jews wanted Hebrew. his was an issue which had to rise eventually concerning Jewish education. Zionism brought Jews of many nationlities to Palestine. German Jews were a small minority, in part because Jews in Germany had considerable freedom and opportunity. And other European Jews did not want their children taught in German which few of them spoke. Hebrew was a loogical compromise, a lengua franca for the Jews of various nationalities. The problem was that there were few books and teaching material available in Hebrew. These foreign founded schools operated largely independent from Ottoman control. Only after the Young Turks revolution, did authorities begin tontajke an interest in foreign schools (1908). <br> <h2> The Palestinian Arab Role in the Empire</h2> <p> The Palestinian Arab population played a role in the political reforms seeking to modernize the Ottoman Empire (1876 and 1908). Palestiniaqn Arabs had many important political and military posts under Ottoman rule. The Ottoman Empire was evolving in the late 19th century and the plitical reforms resulted in a constitution and parliment. There were Arab representatives in the Parliament. In the first Parliament, the President of the Council of the House of Representatives was a Jerusalem Deputy , Yusif Dia Pasha Al Khalidi. <br> <h2>Organization</h2> <p> Ottoman Palestine consisted of two administrative areas. There was the autnomous Sanjak (district) of Jerusalem which was subject to the High Porte in Constantinople. The Sanjak included an area from Jaffa to the River Jordan in the East and from the Jordan south to the borders of Egypt. The other area was part of the Willayat (province) of Beirut. This part was composed of the Sanjak of Balka (Nablus) from Jaffa to Jenin, and the Sanjak of Acre, which extended from Jenin to Naqura. The administration of Arab territories was entrusted to elected Administrative Councils. Those Councils were elected and existed in the provinces, districts, and sub-districts. Those Councils were vested with extensive powers in administration, finance, education, and development. <br> <h2>Slavery</h2> <p> The institution of African slavery was ended in the estern World during the 19th century. The British Royal Navy played a key role in ending the <a href="/act/work/slave/ast/ast-atle.html">Africam slave trade</a>. And slavery itself was ended by Britain (1834), <a href="/essay/war/cwa/doc/cwad-ep.html">America</a> (1863), and Brazil (1888). The British first focused on ending the Atlantic slave trade. They also worked in the <a href="/act/work/slave/ast/ast-io.html">Indian Ocean</a> and wider Middle East, this proved a more difficult undertaking, primarily because the Arabs, Ottomans, and Persians resisted the abolition of slavery. There were as in the West, economic reasons for slavery. The principal reason slavery persisted longer in the Muslim world, however, seems to have been the <a href="/act/work/slave/ast/arab/kor-sla.html">Koranic foundation of slavery</a>. Palestine since the 16th century was part of the Ottoman Empire. Even before the Ottoman Empire conqquered Palestine and other Arab areas, there was an important slave market in Gaza. Within the <a href="/country/tur/hist/ott/ott-sla.html">Ottoman Empire</a>, slavery survived as a legal institution into the 20th century, although it was largely abolished. Arabs in particular resisted Ottoman efforts to end slavery. (Slavery survived in Arab successor states like Saudi Arabia. The Saudis did not abloish slavery until 1961, in large part because of American diplomatic presure.) Arab slave holding thus peristed in Palestine into the 20th slavery. After World War I, the British attempted to finally end slavery in Palestine. Slavery was not finally ended, however, until the the Isreali-Palestinian War (1948-49) and the creation of Isreal, the period the Palestinians refer to as the "Nakba"--the catastrophe. Palestinian attitudes towards black Africans and slavery appear to be wide spread Arab attitudes, although there are differences among modern Arab countries. The Arabs referred to black Africans as "Abed" - which literally meant slave. There was a clear tendency to value slave on a racial basis. And among black African slaves there were varying degrees of inferiority. Ethiopians for reasons we do not yet fully understand were considered superior to other Africans. There are descendents of these former African slaves among the Bedouin in the Negev and Palestinians in Gaza. And there remains a continuing social stigma refflected in racial aditutudes. Many lighter-skined Palestinians refused to marry darker-skined individuals who may be of African slave ancestry. These lingering social aditudes are most pronounced in Gaza where slavery was more important thn in the West Bank. [Beckerleg] <! Although Africans have been in Palestine for centuries, most people know little about this migration. For centuries, under the Ottoman Empire and before, slaves were brought from Africa. Some older people today remember stories told by their parents or grandparents of how they came to be in Palestine. Therefore it is possible to discover something of the later history of slavery. Several people mentioned that they had heard that there was a big slave market in Egypt and one 'white' Bedouin told me that his grandfather had been a slave trader who travelled regularly to Egypt. Most people with any idea of where their ancestors came from mention Sudan or Ethiopia. Sometimes they know the name of the town. Indeed, it is probable that many Africans came from these countries as they are near to Palestine. However, one woman I spoke to pointed out that 'we just say Sudan because we do not know and because the name means 'place of black people. It could just as easily have been Congo!' According to history books, slave traders and owners used to make a distinction between Ethiopians (Habash) and other Africans such as the Zanj from the East African Coast. In their racist way of thinking, they considered the Ethiopians to be superior to the other Africans. In Gaza I spoke to people of Bedouin origin who had been living in the Nagab prior to 1948. In the Nagab I spoke with Bedouin of African descent who had stayed in the area after 1948. In Gaza, I also encountered black people of the Al Rubayn ashira who were settled Bedouin living around the area of Jaffa, before being driven from their villages as refugees in 1948. They said that they were unconnected to the Nagab Bedouin. Their name derived from Nabi Rubooyn who thousands of years ago used a well near their home area. These people of Bedouin origin currently resident in Gaza and the Nagab recall being told by their elders how children were kidnapped or bought in slave markets and brought, sometimes carried in the camel saddle-bags, to live with important Bedouin families. This occurred in the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century. The children were often the only Africans living with the family. They looked after animals, grew wheat and barley and performed household tasks. People told me that the Bedouin did not use the girls as concubines, although in the West Bank they did 'marry' female slaves. Only big wealthy families owned and traded in slaves. Black people were scattered throughout Palestine living with white families who 'owned' them. However, some families needed slaves to help in self- defense when they were weak in number. It is possible that within the twentieth century adults were also brought from Africa and sold as slaves. One elderly man reported that in his youth he had come across African men who were strong, bore tribal scars on their faces and spoke little Arabic. One 'white' Bedouin man told me that slaves used to be branded like animals, but that there were no papers concerning ownership or origins. In the family unit, there were sometimes also other slaves who were white, or low status dependants, such as hamran. But one man told me that a white slave would never have answered to a black slave. Some African children were educated along with the other, free, children of the family. Once the children grew up their masters arranged for them to be married. They never married white people, even if they were also slaves. As there were not many Africans around, marriage often meant that girls moved away from the master's family. People also reported that, upon becoming adults, slaves could choose to take their chances with freedom or to remain attached to a family who would arrange marriage. This probably only occurred towards the end of the institution of slavery, during the British period, when it had already begun to fade away. In the Nagab the Bedouin had a three tier social and political system. Sheikhs were drawn from the Samran, the original Bedouin. Attached to them as clients were the Hamran, families who were originally felaheen, but required protection and/or land from Samran families. The Abed, the slaves, were on the bottom tier and did not have the same rights or status as free people. Slaves did not count in blood feuds between families. Several people told me that if a black man killed a white man, the death of that black man would not count. Payment (sulha) could be made in money or by the giving of a slave of a certain height. If a black man kills a white, the family of the deceased may kill the 'owners' of the black man. Recently, in Rahat in the Nagab, a black boy eloped with a white girl. They were discovered and the girl killed by her family. However, the boy survived and subsequently married a black girl. Under the old system slaves could not sit in the shig at the same level as their masters. In some places this is still observed, with the role of the black people being to serve tea and coffee to the white people. One man told me that there were some shig that he would not go to because they would ask him who he 'belonged to'. But in other shig this no longer happens and black and whites sit happily together. In one shig in Gaza, the black sheikh presides, while white people take responsibility for serving tea and coffee. ... In some areas slavery as a way of life appears to have continued into the 1950s. One black (sumr) man who came to Palestine as a migrant worker from Egypt and was caught up in the war of 1948 recalls life for black people attached to the Al Huzail. He had been working in the orchards near Rishon with black people of the Abu Barakat. When war broke out they fled back to their home area of the Al Huzail where Rahat has now been constructed. When the Egyptian man arrived there he found black people growing wheat for Al Huzail. They were given food and, if they requested it for a special purpose, money. Slaves and masters lived separately in black tents. There was no intermarriage and no concubinage. The Egyptian man slept in the Sheikh's shig and worked as a shepherd, but received no wages. The Sheikh arranged his marriage to a white girl from Gaza. However, after 1952 under the Israelis, when the census was taken, slavery as an institution faded away. Isn't it a pity that the Zionists banished slavery from Palestine, along with trachoma, malaria and typhus? Ah for the good old days! Alas! They are no more! "There was a land of Cavaliers and Olive Trees called Palestine. Here in this pretty world, Gallantry took its last bow. Here was the last ever to be seen of Effendis and their Harems Fair, of Master and of Slave. Look for it only in books, for it is no more than a dream remembered, a Civilization gone with the wind." Those who mourn the loss of this custom, who insist that "Zionism is racism" and "Israel is an apartheid state," can comfort themselves with the thought that polygamy and honor killings have not yet been eliminated by the Zionists. No doubt, when the 'Nakba' of 1948 is reversed, and the Arabs of Palestine get their rights, the noble customs of old will be restored. > <br> <h2>Zionist Projects</h2> <p> <! Israeli history: The true mystery of Daud Abu Yusef, the Jewish Bedouin Ami Isseroff Joe Hochstien Dedicated to the memory of Ami Isseroff z l and Joe Hochstien z l (right to left) ÿþÿþÿþ The first teacher In the modern history of the Jewish people Daud Abu Yusef is referred as  the miraculous rider from the desert. But in my opinion a more fitting title will be  the first teacher . Since he was the first to teach the Jewish pioneers in the land of Israel how to protect themselves and their community. His students were the founders of what is now the modern city of Petach Tikvah. The very first pioneers who came to the malaria infested swamps that covered much of the arable land in the land of Israel. Like them he wanted to change the fate of the Jewish people for the members of the Jerusalemite Association  Petach Tikvah, which means opening of hope in Hebrew. ÿþÿþ Coat of arms of the city of Petakh Tikvah Coat of arms of the city of Petach Tikvah ÿþÿþ Opening of Hope Just east of Tel Aviv, the modern city of Petach Tikvah holds proudly the title of the first Zionist community in the land of Israel. It is a title disputed by the people of the city of Rosh Pinah near Safed in the Galilee, but this dispute will not be sorted out here. The founding fathers of Petach Tikvah included David Gutmann, Yehoshua Stampfer, Eliezer Rab, Natan Greengrant, Zerakh Baranet, and the leader of the group, Yoel Moshe Solomon. In July 8 1878 they bought for 1,100 Napoleons 3,400 dunam from a Christian trader from Jaffa by the name of Salim Caser and named it after their association. Located near the origins of the Yarkon, (a river in the eyes of the locals, and a stream in the eyes of passing tourists), the abundance of water made the place look promising but looks can be deceiving. Their intention was to find a way to live as farmers. But the challenges they were facing were daunting. The biggest threat was malaria. It decimated the Arab population along the marshlands and had no mercy on the Jewish pioneers. Finding the right crops was another critical challenge since that was the financial justification of their enterprise. ÿþ ÿþÿþÿþÿþ Founder of Petakh Tikvah, Yoel Moshe Salomon Founder of Petach Tikvah, Yoel Moshe Salomon ÿþ The security challenge There was also the problem of security. These were the last decades of the Ottoman Empire. As it decayed, lawlessness and destitution spread along its diminishing provinces. And the land of Israel was no exception. The Arab Israeli conflict, as we know it today, of Jews vs. Arabs, did not exist at the time. Then it was the destitute vs. the poor. Those with nothing but an empty belly vs. those with very little. And those with very little, like the people of Petach Tikvah, had to watch tirelessly the little they had from thieves, robbers and trespassers. The trespassers came from nearby villages and wandering Bedouin tribes. They often harvested the fields of Petach Tikva and brought their cattle there to graze on them. The Bedouin tribes were the greater potential threat. Since quite often they were the real law of the land. Picking a fight with one of them was asking for trouble. Therefore a good guard had to be a good diplomat who knew the ways of the Arabs and the Bedouins. First of the Jewish guards, Yehoshua Stampfer First of the Jewish guards, Yehoshua Stampfer For this complex task of security three men volunteered. Yehoshua Stampfer (1852-1908), Yaacov Ben Mimon Zermati (1838-1928), and Yehuda Rab (1858-1948). The first is best described as the problems solver of the association. Enthusiastic, committed and charismatic, his been taking head on many of the setbacks that came their way. From recruiting backers and members, to farming, and protecting their small newborn community. The second was a 40 years old Moroccan Jew, native of Jaffa. Yaacov Ben Mimon Zermati was a merchant who knew much of the land around them, from Sinai to northern Syria. He knew the ways of the Arabs and the Bedouins, and in his travels went to the lands of the most hostile of tribes. He knew no fear and no illness. The 21 years old Yehuda Rab, was the son of Eliezer Rab and cousin of Yehoshua Stampfer. Although young, he had behind him experience equal to a lifetime. Married for the second time, he already run two businesses before coming to Petach Tikvah. He run a mill in Jerusalem and before that an estate in his country of birth, Hungary. There he also learned the use of personal weapons from an elderly friend of the family, a veteran of the failed Hungarian revolt of 1848 and of the American Civil War. Rebellious and unruly, but loyal, Yehuda preferred the company of Arabs to that of the Yeshiva life in Jerusalem. Because of that he was called  Yehuda Arab. Each of them had some knowledge and experience to offer. But it was not enough. Very quickly these three remarkable men were overwhelmed by the security problems. They needed a more professional help. And they got it, unexpectedly, in a perfect timing, the kind of which history isn t known to offer. ÿþ First of the Jewish guards, Yaacov Ben Mimon Zermati First of the Jewish guards, Yaacov Ben Mimon Zermati, age 90 ÿþ One heck of a coincident Daud Abu Yusuf did not plan to be in the land of Israel in the winter of 1879. As a devout Jew he undoubtedly wanted to. Maybe he even made a few plans. But if he did they never materialized. In 1879, year 5,639 of the Jewish calendar, a thief stole his precious white mere somewhere in Arabia. And Daud chased him all the way to Damascus. Since Jerusalem is nearby, he decided to make pilgrimage. On his way back, at the village of Faga, east of Petach Tikvah, he heard of Jews trying to make a living as farmers. Curious, he went to have a look. But all he saw there were a bunch of Europeans. Disappointed he immediately left. For Yehuda Rab, whom welcomed him there, this was also confusing. He saw a strange looking Bedouin coming from the east on a tall white mere, the kind Yehuda never saw before. According to the local customs he greeted him and invited him for a cup of coffee. But instead of accepting, the rider grunted and left, after replying in a few words in an Arabian dialect uncommon to this region. Returning from the fields the next morning Yehuda was surprise to see the stranger coming from the same direction. His surprise grew several times over when the stranger announced  Ana Israili, followed by,  Shma Israel adony Eloheinu Adony echad. No one expected to meet a Jewish Bedouin. But there he was, a Hebrew speaking Bedouin with Talit and Tefilin among his few belongings. Yehuda s immediate thoughts were of the Jews of Khaybar. They were a mysterious tribe of Jewish nomads from the Arabian Peninsula. At the time a source of many legends and rumors, but of no actual encounters. As they introduced each other Daud dismissed that possibility. His name was Da-vid, but the Arabs called him Daud Abu Yusuf, after his 20 years old son, who was then with his mother in Baghdad. He came from a group of Jewish families in Baghdad that spend the greater part of each year among the Bedouins in the desert, trading with them in wool. Only he went even farther, and made the desert his home. In that conversation Daud also dismissed the possibility that the Jews of Khaybar existed. He recalled that he was hired once as a guide by a British expedition that wanted to find this tribe. They went across the Arabian Peninsula as far as Yemen, were they met Yemenite Jews. But saw no evidence of the Jews of Khaybar. First of the Jewish guards and teacher, Yehuda Rab First of the Jewish guards and teacher, Yehuda Rab The first lesson Hearing of their problems and difficulties he immediately offered his experience, his first advice, no rifles. That night he took Yehuda outside to set a campfire. Yehuda thought this would immediately attract hostile fire. Daud was counting on that. They waited on their horses some distance away in the dark. And when someone began shooting at their campfire they did nothing. The shooters revealed their location by firing and when they reloaded Daud and Yehuda charged at them from behind, scaring the living daylights out of them. Simple and effective, Daud s plan gave Yehuda his first night of sleep in a long time. After that night Daud decided not to return to his wife and son in Baghdad but instead to spend a year teaching the people of Petach Tikvah everything he knows. Especially to Yehuda Rab who carried the greater brunt of guarding. Philosophy and legacy His main tool was diplomacy. Gaining the respect of the surrounding villagers and Bedouin tribes, through firmness and hospitality. Stand your ground but always give your adversary the highest respect. By winning every confrontation on one hand, and they were numerous, and honoring his neighbors with hospitality Daud s fame spread throughout the land. And many Arabs regarded him as a sheikh. He knew that smart diplomacy can avoid confrontations and war, therefore he honored the Arab custom of hospitality by accepting all their invitations and inviting their leaders to Petach Tikavh, where they were treated as kings. Once he refused to take part in a contest of skills in order not to humiliate their host, the head of the powerful Abu Kishek tribe. When it comes to surviving an actual confrontation Daud s philosophy had just two rules. Rules that required a cool head at all times.  Always be quicker than your foe, but no matter what you do, don t ever kill unless this is an extremely severe danger.  This is not a fantasiya!  There is no point, he reasoned,  to start an endless blood feud. Fantasiya were local festivities were weapons were fired into the air just for the fun of it. For experienced men like Daud Abu Yusuf war is something they engage in out of necessity and not for the fun of it. He knew and taught that a battle avoided is a battle won. This first rule is a wisdom that echoed across the history of Jewish self-defense in the land of Israel. Mendel Portugali, 1888  1917, one of the founders of  Hashomer, the predecessor of the  Haganah instructed,  You do not seek an encounter with a thief, you chase him off, and only when you have no choice do you shoot. After all, he is "out to steal a sack of almonds, not to murder you, so don t murder him, drive him off. Don t sleep at night. If you hear footsteps, fire into the distance. If you feel that he is not far from you, and you can fire without fear that he may attack you, fire into the distance. Only if your life is in danger  fire. And from later years, Yigal Alon, 1918  1980, recalled an incident with thieves in his family fields, when he was only 13 years old. In that incident he saw his father confronts the thieves and chases them away, without killing them, even though he had the opportunity to do so. His father s explanation echoed the wisdom of Daud Abu Yussef and the empathy of Mendel Portugaly:  A shot can end up in death. The death of an Arab opens a blood feud that can last for decades. We live here with them and any conflict that can be resolved with hands and sticks has to end without the use of a weapon. Use it only when there is a real danger to your life. Yigal Alon became a leading figure in the establishment of the state of Israel and its armed forces. Where he, and others like him raised generations of soldiers, commanders and military leaders. Daud Abu Yussef second rule is best described as  Always prefer the night over the company of a campfire. Knowing your surrounding in the dark without the use of a light source is the skill of the commando, the tracker, and the native fighter. A skill a bunch of foreign intruders are not supposed to have. Israeli historians may dispute the idea that Daud Abu Yusuf gave the Israeli side the skills of army trackers   Gashashim in Hebrew. But the fact of the matter is that Jews with this skill were present in land of Israel from the very beginning of pioneering Zionism and Daud Abu Yusuf was there to teach. Who was he? Daud spent only one year in the company of the people of Petach Tikvah, from the Passover of 1879 to the Passover of 1880. There is only one source about that year, his friend and student, Yehud Rab. From him we have a few clues about his life before he came to Petach Tikvah. 40 years of age, short and not so good-looking, his face carried the scares of an illness that stroke him some years before, probably Chicken Pox. His most recognized feature was the rababa, a single string musical instrument common among the Bedouins. With it he sang Bedouin songs from the desert s heartland and Jewish prayers. He also liked to play the ud, a well-known guitar like Arab musical instrument. True to his teachings, he carried no firearms. He had a lance in his right arm and a frightening Damascus Sword in a sheath on his left thigh. When asked why this seemingly risky choice, he explained that a rifle has no honor.  Even a woman can kill with it the greatest of heroes . Was he a chauvinist? Or was this a better explanation to give to the kind of world he lived in? His one-year stay in Petach Tikvah Suggests the later. Once a massive confrontation between the men of Petach Tikvah and the men of a nearby village was about to take place. Seeing this face-off the women of Petach Tikvah took the initiative, rushed to the field and lay down between the two sides. Daud was as surprised as the rest of the men, from both sides. But there is no indication he was bothered by this  unwomanly behavior. Along with everybody else he was glad the fight was aborted. Daud gave a year of his life to Zionism, but his life was his wife and son in Baghdad. This we know since he never stopped talking about them, especially his wife. On the eve of his departure he met Rabbi Akiva Yosef Schlesinger, a senior rabbinic personality from Jerusalem. He was the only leading rabbi to support the Petach Tikvah initiative, and that against strong and sometime near violent opposition from the rabbinic establishment in Jerusalem. Recognizing Daud s importance Schlesinger offered him a special permit to marry a second wife from the land of Israel, should his wife in Baghdad demands his return. Politely and firmly Daud refused. It is quite possible that Duad had a woman for a boss. Daud was a man of contradictions in more ways than one. Once he saw a Turkish unit taking government cattle to the fields of Petach Tikvah. Furious he charged at them and slapped the Turkish lieutenant on the chick, and quickly rode away. Smart move giving the troubles this act nearly put him into. Like most of the men in that era he liked to hunt. And was excited to see a wild boar. Against his friend s advice he decided to hunt it and threw his lance at him. But the wild beast was only hurt, and as always in such cases attacked him and his mere. His mere was nearly gutted before Daud was able to slash the boar s neck with his sword. In my opinion these stories betray an earlier layer of personality, one that is more adventures and impulsive. And that raises the highly likely possibility that he too had a mentor once, an unknown teacher. From him learned survival skills that may have conflicted with his adventures nature. ÿþ Daud Abu Yusef, the Jewish Bedouin Duad Abu Yusuf, a sketch made by Yehuda Rab in 1944. Source, 'The First Furrow ÿþ A fading memory Daud s life from before he came to Petach Tikvah is a mystery; all we have is second-guessing based on a handful of clues. But what happened to him afterwards is a complete blank. Even though most Baghdadi Jews and their descendants live today in Israel, no one came forwards claiming to be his descendant. And the British expedition he said to have guided across Arabia hasn t been identified. As a result the mystery of Daud Abu Yusuf got bigger. And as always when history and mystery meet, legends and folktales emerge. When Daud left his image got split into two different persons, the historic one and the legendary one. The historic one, of the lone and remarkable Baghdadi Jew that lived as a Bedouin, is the one described here. It was known only to Yehuda Rab and to his family; and to whoever read his memoirs. They were written by his son Benyamin Ben Ezer in 1930, and published in 1956 under the Hebrew title  Hatelem Harishon,  The First Furrow. In 1922 the Rab family Hebraized their name to Ben Ezer, after Yehuda s father, Eliezer. The legendary image described Daud as the head of a mysterious and powerful tribe of Jewish Bedouins hidden somewhere in the vastness of Arabia. This is how the general public in Israel knew him, from before there was an Israel, probably from the very beginning of the 20th century. At the time of Daud s stay in Petach Tikvah Yehuda was not the only one who mistaken Daud for a member of the Jews of Khaybar. But only he was there he to hear Daud s own story. The rest of the people saw someone who was clearly a Jew and clearly a Bedouin. Therefore it was logical for them to assume that he came from a Jewish Bedouin tribe. And the people of that era knew of only one such tribe, the mysterious Jews of Khaybar. The great deeds Daud made during that year convinced many that he was the head of that tribe. ÿþÿþ While the historic image of Daud Abu Yusuf remain hidden among the old books in public libraries, the mistaken one kept growing in the collective imagination. In Israel s earlier decades children & youth literature writers turned the Khaybar version into an action figure hero, an integral property of Israel s world of fiction and fantasy. It may have seemed like a safe place to preserve a memory, albeit distorted one, but it wasn t. With an image of a character in children & youth literature Daud was simply not in the radar of most early Israeli historians and researchers. This kept his memory only in the fiction world of Israel. But the fiction world everywhere is never a stable one. There, characters and stories are subject to changing trends and fashions. And in the Israeli culture the leading trendsetters were in the United States of America. This is a fact of life that goes back to the very beginning of Modern Hebrew speaking lives in the Land of Israel. And in the 1980 s, when the influx of imagery from the United States to Israel turned into a flood, Daud did not have a chance. ÿþÿþ By 1988 it was probably too late. Then, journalist and historian Ehud Ben Ezer (1936-), Grandson of Yehuda Rab and son of Benyamin Ben Ezer, Republished his grandfather s memoirs. With it he published a children & youth story recounting the same events. The two books meant to counter the misinformation in the public s mind, but there is no evidence that major interest arose. Thus the memory of Daud abu Yusuf, real and fiction, faded to near obscurity. ÿþÿþ But ultimately, the main reason was Israel herself. The hi-tech over urbanized Israel of the 21st century is a sharp contrast to the impoverished desolated and thinly populated land Daud and Yehuda knew in 1880. And today many in Israel and outside of Israel will find it difficult to believe that the origins of the IDF, one of the most technologically sophisticated armies in the world, goes back to four Jews on horse backs carrying as their main weapons wooden quarterstaffs known in Arabic as naboots. ÿþ ÿþ Ehud Ben Ezer Ehud Ben Ezer, the only authority in the whole world on Daud Abu Yusuf ÿþ ÿþ Original content is Copyright by the author 2011. Posted at Dvar Dea, http://dvardea.blogspot.com/2011/08/israeli-history-true-mystery-of-daud.html where your intelligent and constructive comments are welcome. Distributed by ZNN list. Subscribe by sending a message to ZNN-subscribe@ yahoogroups. com. Please forward by e-mail with this notice, cite this article and link to it. Other uses by permission only. __._,_.___ Reply to sender | Reply to group | Reply via web post | Start a New Topic Messages in this topic (1) Recent Activity: Visit Your Group ========================================================================= ZNN - Zionism News Network - is for distribution of information about Zionism, Israel, Israeli and Zionist history, Israel advocacy and anti-Semitism. Please do forward posts from this list by email with all list information and URLs to publicize ZNN and Zionist Web sites. Submissions are most welcome and will be posted in accordance with list guidelines. To join send an email to ZNN-subscribe@yahoogroups.com Contents are the responsibility of the posters. Facebook Zionism cause: http://apps.facebook.com/causes/causes/73516 Invite a friend today! Visit these Web sites: http://zionism-israel.com http://israel-palestina.info http://bluetruth.net > <br> <h2>Young Turks</h2> <p> The Ottoman Empire was, however, by the 19th century politically unstable. While the Empire was controlled by Turks, they were a minority within the Empire which included large number of Balkan Christians, Armenians, and Arabs. The Young Turks that seized control of the Government were not about to relinquish control to non-Turkish groups. Palestine remained under Ottoman rule until World War I. <br> <h2><a href="/rel/faith/jud/zion/zion-ww1.html">World War I</a></h2> <p> World War I broke out in Europe (August 1914). Palestine at the beginning of the War was a part of the Ottoman Empire. The population was largely Arab with some Jewish settlements as a result of the European Zionist movement. The Germans sought to bring the declining Ottoman Empire into the War to draw Russian and British resources from the two main fronts of the War. The Ottomans joined the Central Powers (October 1914). They had suffered significan territorial losses in the Balkans and the Caucauses at the hands of the Russians and saw allying themselves with the Germans was one way of regaining lost territory from the beleagered Russians. The War quickly turned into a disaster when the Ottoman army invading the Russian Causcasses was decisively defeated. The Ottomons launched an offensive from Palestine soon after entering the War (November 1914). They crossed the Sinai and at some locations reached the Suez Canal, but were beaten back by the British. The British encoraged an Arab Revolt in Arabia which developed into a major threat to the Ottomans. The Arab Revolt assisted by T.E. Lawrence helped weakened the Ottomon position in Arabia and Palestine. Palestine turned from an Ottoman backwater into the frontline of World war I. The British made commitments to the Arabs about an independent Arab state after the War. They made condflictging commitments to their French ally. Zionists were initially split by the War. There were Zionists in all the major beligerant powers. The Balfour Declaration would largely change this. Thr British mounted a major offensive Against the Ottomans in Palestine. The British Egyptian Expeditionary Force commanded by Field Marshall Edmund Allenby af first made little progress against the Ottomons. The British finally took Jerusalem (December 1917). Australian Light Cavalry played an important role. The Ottomon Army in the Levant was was finally broken at the Battle of Megiddo (September 1918). The British with the Arab Army on its right then moved to seize Damascus. The British during the War made conflicting commitments to the Arabs, Zionists, and even the French. The result was that after the War they found maintaing order in the Palestine Mandate a very difficult under takibng. The Palestinian Arabs were unwilling to participate in Mandate institutions. Palestine Under the Ottoman Empire <br> <h2>Arab Revolt</h2> <p> It is difficut to know the political attitudes of Palestinians to Ottoman rule. It was from the desert tribes, supported by the British, however, that effective resistace to Ottoman rule came after the Ottomans entered the War on the side of the Central Powers. Sharif Husayn encouraged by his correspondence with the British launched the fmed Arab Revolt against the Ottoman Empire June 5, 1916). Husayn declared himself "King of the Arabs" (October 1916). The Arab revolt in the Hejaz broke out, surprising the Ottomans (June 5, 1916). British and French agents played a major role in inducung the Arab rising. The Arab Revolt, led chiefly by Col. T.E. Lawrence, Emir Faisal, and his father Sherif Hussein, "King of the Hejaz". The first major success was tsking the Ottoman garison at Aqaba. The Arab Revolt broke out in full force (January-September 1918). The Arabs took control of Arabia cutting rail lines. Isolated Ottoman garrisons were besieged throughout the Peninsula. The Ottomans hard pressed by the British in Palestine were unable to deal with the Arab Revolt. <br> <h2>Sources</h2> <p> Ayalon, Ami. "Modern texts and their readers in late Ottoman Palestine, " <i>Middle Eastern Studies</i> Vol. 38, No. 4 (October 2002), pp. 17-40. <p> Beckerleg, Susan. Translated by Salah Al Zaroo. <i>Hidden History: The Origins and Status of African Palestinians</i>. <p> Rinott, Moshe. "Capitulations: The case of the German-Jewish Hilfsverein Schools in Palestine, 1901-1914," in David Kushner, ed. <i>Palestine in the Late Ottoman Period: Political, Social, and Economic Transformation</i> pp. 294-301. <p> Stone, Norman, "Turkey in the Russian mirror," in Mark and Ljubica Erickson, eds. <i<Russia War Peace and Diplomacy</i> (London 2004), pp. 86-100. <p> Twain, Mark. <i>Inocents Abroad</i>. <br> <br> <br> <HR> <br> <br> <br> <CENTER> <H1>HBC</H1> <P> <A HREF="/email.html"><img src="/imagef/mail1.gif"></A><BR> </CENTER><br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <center> <br> <p><i>Navigate the Boys' Historical Clothing Web Site:<br> [Return to <a href="/essay/war/ip/war-ip.html">Main Israel-Palestine page</a>]<br> <b>[<a href="/intro.html">Introduction</a>] [<a href="/act/act.html">Activities</a>] [<a href="/bio/bio.html">Biographies</a>] [<a href="/chron/chron.html">Chronology</a>] [<a href="/style/style.html">Clothing styles</a>] [<a href="/country/country.html">Countries</a>]<br> [<a href="/bib.html">Bibliographies</a>] [<a href="/cont.html">Contributions</a>] [<a href="/faq.html">FAQs</a>] [<a href="/var/gloss.html">Glossaries</a>] [<a href="/cont/image.html">Images</a>] [<a href="/link.html">Links</a>] [<a href="/cont/contr.html">Registration</a>] [<a href="/index2at.html">Tools</a>] <br> [<a href="/index2.html">Boys' Clothing Home</a>]</b> </center><br> <br> <br> Created: 4:41 PM 1/17/2007<br> Last updated: 10:53 PM 4/2/2011 <br> <br> <img src="/HBCgold.gif" align=right> <br> <br> </body> </HTML>